Speed all depends on equipment you have available and where the pallets are staged in the yard. A good crew of 4 should be able to lay 20 pallets in a day.

we lay sod on clay usually, so that marks out the top soil question for me.

Gr8WhiteNorth

06-17-2010, 10:27 PM

Interesting that you lay it on clay. We use peat or mineral based sod and spread 4 inches of topsoil (after compaction) on the site. We'd save a ton of money laying it on clay.

Superior L & L

06-18-2010, 10:04 PM

I always talk customers out of sod if possible! But if I have to install it I call a sodding company. They come in with 10 mexicans and do it cheap than I could possibly do it for
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andyslawncare

06-19-2010, 02:18 AM

Dept of Agriculture studies here (UGA) show that planting in native soil is best for root development and drought tolerance. I do amend seasonal flower beds with 25% by volume-usually 4'' organic compost tilled to 1'. Other than annuals, we plant and lay sod in clay. Its a real bisnitch too. Right now we're in the middle of a 9 zone irrigation system and the clay is like rock right now its so hot! Clay is all we have here south of Atlanta!

I find that if a lawn is not doing well that a good core aeration and top dressing with USGA 90/10 does the trick pretty quick. Its 90% sterile sand, and 10% organic material/fertilizer

andyslawncare

06-19-2010, 02:20 AM

I always talk customers out of sod if possible! But if I have to install it I call a sodding company. They come in with 10 mexicans and do it cheap than I could possibly do it for
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you are just as capable of hiring 10 guys to do sodding jobs for a higher charge!

I pocket $120-150 per pallet, easy!

Superior L & L

06-19-2010, 10:08 PM

Sure u can make 100 a pallet if your only doing one pallet. If I'm more than $2.50 a yard finish grade and sod I'd never land a job around here. So hire a company to do it for $1.75 a yard make $1500.00 on a 2000 yd job and keep my three crews on more profitable Jobs.
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Superior L & L

06-19-2010, 10:12 PM

Oh and why would i deal with the hassel of hiring 10 extra guys just for a job or two, talk about a waste of time.
I only have so many production hour available per year based on our budget and Equipement, so o don't really want to waste these hours on low profit sod jobs.
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andyslawncare

06-20-2010, 06:54 PM

20 pallets of sod with $150 paid to you after materials in one day is not a low profit job.
Pay guys $13/hr... Make $2,000 profit.

I have several guys trained to lay sod that I keep on call. Most of them are part time. I have 3 full timers on the landscaping crew that are very good at it...